AL - OK

The project at Camp Sumatanga went very well.  They treated me like part of the family and told me to come back home soon.
I then had a week to travel to the Oklahoma City area.  Each day I only traveled a couple hours.  I spent one afternoon at Graceland.  I was going right by it, might as well, right?  It was a nice tour and walk through the various museums.
I was able to meet up with NOMADS friends who were having an extended stay at Toad Suck Park (yep, that's right) in Arkansas.
I then made it to the OKC area and spent two days with other NOMADS friends at their home.  They took me around the city and we toured the National Memorial and Museum remembering the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building.  We were invited to have lunch at the home of yet another NOMADS couple.
I arrived, finally, in Moore, Ok.  NOMADS have been here for a couple of months helping to rebuild homes from last year's tornados.  There are 9 people on my team and I will be here for two weeks.

Gallant, AL

After Tennessee, I drove for a day and arrived at Camp Sumatanga in Gallant, Alabama.  It is by far the most beautiful camp I've been at.  The buildings and the grounds are amazing.  Unfortunately, I've been unable to upload a picture.  I'll try again later.
This camp is 1700 acres with a 55 acre lake.  There is a paved walking trail around the lake.  There is a mountain trail to the chapel, haven't gone up that yet.  There are 35 buildings that can house 900 people.  There's the original camp area and a new retreat area with hotel style rooms.  The RV park is very nice.

I have been painting bathrooms, covering graffiti and helping in the kitchen.  There have been various groups in for retreats, meetings, conferences the whole time I've been here (so I get to have meals with them).

When I leave here I will take a week to drive to the OKC area.  Along the way I will be doing some sightseeing and visiting with some other NOMADS friends.

Eva, Tennessee

I left Mesa, AZ on April 13.  It took me a week to get to Eva, a small town between Memphis and Nashville.  I only drove about 300 miles/day and I allowed an extra day in case there was bad weather, causing me to layover.  But the weather was good, so my layover was visiting a NOMADS couple who offer their hook-up at their home for those passing through.  I had worked with this couple in Wyoming and it was good to see them again and relax a little.  I arrived at Lakeshore UM Assembly, a church camp, in Eva the Saturday before Easter.  The team all arrived the same day, so that we could attend Easter services together.  There are 12 on the team.

The next 3 weeks we worked at the camp doing a variety of jobs.  A deck was built, as was a shed.  I helped clean cabins, paint window trim, paint bunks, paint walls, paint yellow caution strips on steps.  So painting was a high priority for the camp to get ready for the summer season.  The camp is one of the most modern that I’ve been at, the buildings and cabins are very nice.  It is on the side of a hill (mountain) that leads down to Kentucky Lake, a part of the Tennessee River.  It is quite remote so cell service was spotty and internet was available only at some of the main buildings, and TV signal was non-existent.  The RV sites were in a beautiful part of the camp, but a bit of a distance away.  

We visited the near-by state park and learned that the area is known for the mussels in the river.  We visited a mussel farm, where mussels are harvested and used for freshwater pearls.  Needless to say, I bought more jewelry.

After this, I will be headed to another church camp in Alabama.  

For those of you who know about my problems with my in-dash multi-media center (gps, radio, Sirius, bluetooth, DVD), I now have the 5th one and it seems to be working wonderfully.